Postville’s economy in flux

While not all Postville business owners are currently facing economic hard times, most see clouds looming in the distance.

More storefronts are empty now in downtown Postville than they were four months ago when federal immigration enforcement agents raided the large Agriprocessors Inc. meatpacking plant in town.  But that’s only part of the story when it comes to the town’s economy.

“It’s been tough,” said Bruce Stockman, owner of Best Place Auto Repair. His business, located just across the street from Agriprocessors human resources office and the plant gate, was frequented by many workers and supervisors at the plant. He pointed past a large multilingual metal sign on the front of the building to his three service bays. A white pickup sits in the first bay, but the other two are empty.

“I know there’s been a lot said [about Agriprocessors and the people that run the plant],” Stockman said. “But they’ve always done right by me — they’ve always treated me well, paid their bills and we’ve had a good working relationship.”

Not all business owners and managers in Postville, however, share Stockman’s assessment of the local economy. Sharon Drahn, editor of the Postville Herald-Leader, points out that economically there were two Postvilles.

“The immigrant community set up its own businesses in town,” she explained. “They were primarily patrons of those businesses. This is not to say that they didn’t buy from other businesses in town, but they didn’t make up most of the non-Hispanic business’s customer base.”

There is no denying that the Hispanic businesses in Postville, at least the ones that remain, are dealing with hardships. El Vaquero, a clothing store, has closed. Sabor Latino, a Mexican restaurant and grocery store owned by Juan Figueroa, has sparse lunch crowds and has reduced hours of operation for the market. While Hispanics remain as one of the cultural groups in the community, their disposable income has been drastically reduced. Many, unable to work and awaiting federal deportation hearings, exist by charity alone.

Business owners in Postville from both sides of this economic spectrum, however, are worried about what the future might bring. Although many in the community will privately voice their wish for Agriprocessors, a kosher meatpacking plant and the town’s largest employer, to come under new ownership, none are willing to have their name printed alongside that sentiment.

“The town is facing a major crisis if the plant closes or is shut down,” said a business owner that agreed to speak anonymously. “If that happens, the Jewish market will close and a few other downtown businesses too. More importantly, there is a lot of property that is owned by Agri. Who knows what will happened to the houses, apartments and the property taxes they generate if there is no longer a need for Agri to house workers there. There’s also a loss of city revenues. The domino effect could be devastating to Postville.”